Assignment 2
Detailed Answer
DUE 24 June 2025
, ENG2601
Assignment 2
DUE 24 June 2025
Title:
Manipulating Genre, Register, Context, and Meaning to Persuade: A Critical Analysis of
“The Big Lie About Speed Limits in South Africa”
Introduction
The article “The Big Lie About Speed Limits in South Africa”, authored by Rob
Handfield-Jones and published by MyBroadband, presents a compelling counter-
narrative to governmental assertions that lowering speed limits will reduce road
fatalities. Framed within a persuasive and argumentative genre, the article challenges
dominant road safety discourses by weaving together evidence-based critiques and
rhetorical techniques. Handfield-Jones leverages the authority of expert opinion, data,
and emotionally charged language to manipulate genre, register, context, and meaning
in ways that influence the reader’s perception of road safety policy. This essay critically
analyses how these elements are strategically deployed to construct a persuasive
message, using a range of persuasive techniques such as emotive language, repetition,
quoting experts, case studies, hyperbole, and euphemism.